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Date: 3/8/2023
WESTFIELD — On the evening of March 2, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) hosted a public hearing on the proposed closure of Governor’s Center in Westfield and Chapin Center in Springfield. The proposed closure date for these nursing facilities is June 6.
The Northeast Health Group runs Governor’s Center and Chapin Center as well as Willimansett Center East and West in Chicopee. In February, the group announced it will be closing all four homes due to a DPH mandate that calls for nursing homes to limit residents to two per bedroom. Reducing the number of beds to comply with the new rule resulted in the loss of $7.2 million in revenue across those four homes over the past 12 months, the group said. In addition, new minimal staffing requirements added additional cost of $600,000 across the homes.
Heather Berchem from the Northeast Health Group stated, “Once the four homes are closed, we will have no other businesses and will be dissolved. We did not enter into this decision lightly and understand the hardship, anxiety and sadness this decision inflicts on patients, families, staff and Northeast Health Group itself.” She continued, “We will continue to work with families and the Department of Public Health to find appropriate locations for all residents and to ensure safe and orderly transfer.”
During the March 2 hearing, local officials and health representatives expressed their concerns regarding the process of notification from Northeast Health Group, the process of notification from the DPH, and a perceived geographic disparity against Western Massachusetts.
Speakers said the closure of the nursing homes is causing a great deal of stress and uncertainty not only for the families, but for the staff and community at large. Their hope is that the DPH will review the entire spectrum of care, what’s available, how these services are going to be replaced here and how they’re going to meet the needs of people in Western Massachusetts so they can be close to their families and support networks.
Heart-wrenching testimonies were heard from family members of loved ones like Robert Tichy, whose 86-year-old father is incapacitated and confined to his bed after suffering a stroke. At 55 years, Tichy said he had only seen his father cry once, and March 2 was the second time, when Tichy finally found his father a bed at a new facility.
“This has caused so much undue stress for him and myself that didn’t need to happen,” Tichy said. “My father is all that I have left, and if I didn’t find a bed when I found it, I would have been traveling close to Cape Cod to see my dad maybe once a month, as opposed to once a week. After three years of finally getting him acclimated, now I have to start all over again and I don’t look forward to any of that process.”
Robert Tetrault, whose mother has severe dementia, has been living in the Governor’s Center. She got accepted to a nursing home in Worcester, but he lives in Southwick. His concern is for his mother’s transition, her mental and physical health, well-being and how transportation is going to take place.
“I just listened to the governor’s new budget proposal,” Tetrault said. “They’re going to propose $18 million for free education for two-year colleges. Why can’t they take that $18 million and start building new nursing homes and providing facilities for these people to transition?”
Krystal Kusek has two grandparents with early-onset dementia at Chapin Center. They have spent every single day together, except a time they were placed in care without one another, and they did not do well. Kusek’s grandmother is completely confined to her bed, and her grandfather is a veteran with a heart condition. Kusek said: “The stress and anxiety has taken a toll on my the whole family in finding a spot for my grandparents that’s close to home. They both need each other.”
Kathleen Shields visits her parents three times a week and doesn’t know what she’s going to do, because there are no beds available anywhere nearby. She said, “My mom doesn’t walk, and my dad has dementia, but when they’re together they help each other. If they are separated, I know one will pass away. They bring life to each other, and I can’t have them separated.”
She went on to say, “My parents are already worried about this, and I’m stressed out. I can’t believe this is all happening. I just feel as though there’s just not enough time.”
Westfield Mayor Michael McCabe said, “These are real-life concerns that are adversely affecting our lower socioeconomic group, who can’t afford to be anywhere else, and we’re affecting a population who might have worked their entire lives and found themselves in an adverse situation where they couldn’t afford private care.” He continued, “We’re supposed to be socially conscious at this point. We’re really supposed to understand the needs of those people who are struggling to get by.”
McCabe urged the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services and DPH to get together with clean conscience and ask themselves whether they should support waivers for those groups that have asked for them, and if they can’t keep these facilities open, should they expand the number of days people have to find alternative arrangements. The Governor’s Center has 71 residents and McCabe said he doesn’t know where they’re going to go.
The Department of Public Health will complete its review of the proposed closure plan and all the comments received at the hearing, as well as those that were submitted to the department. Based on the department’s review of the plan and comments, it will either approve the closure plan or provide the facility with comments on the closure plan within 14 days of the hearing.